


Clinging to the Memories of You

by heffermonkey



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies)
Genre: Closets, Coda, Danger, First Time, M/M, Memories, Missing Scene, reconnecting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 14:37:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9661643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heffermonkey/pseuds/heffermonkey
Summary: That moment, only hours before - Why couldn’t they have remained in there forever?  Why couldn’t that have been their future, their end?





	1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

_“It’s WICKED,” Thomas yelled loudly. A shocked silence descended. Minho wanted it to be some cruel joke Thomas was playing but looking at him he knew it was the truth._

_For a moment Minho wanted to be back in the Glade again, the only normal he knew – he wanted to run, run through the maze and lose himself in its familiar twists and turns, sure of his direction. In the maze, he’d always known how to get home – always known how long he had to get back to the safety of the glade before nightfall._

_Here, in this place, he knew nothing and fear without knowledge made you crazy._


	2. Chapter 2

**Hours Before**

“Thomas! Come on, we gotta go,” Minho screamed over the thwack thwack thwack of the ‘copters blades. He pulled at his arm until he made a move and began running with the others, glancing back to make sure Thomas was following and cursed under his breath when Thomas ran back to the helicopter. What the hell was he thinking?

The facility was large and imposing and the adrenaline of escape was only fuelled more by running from whatever those – things – were that were attacking. Minho stumbled and jerked his head around for a clearer view, but there was a storm, it was dark and the yells of the men and weapons being fired made the chaos seem like madness. For a moment it was like being back in the glade only days before, when the Grievers had come for them. 

Minho propelled himself through the doors, catching himself with the help of Frypan and Newt before he fell, and looked around frantically. Thomas was the last to sprint through the doors and they drew to a satisfying close, a heavy thud of locks settling into place giving them all a sense of safety. Minho caught Thomas’s eye for a second and they shared a relieved expression, though Minho could have punched him for making him worry. Thomas had slipped into some kind of daydream on the copter and Minho hadn’t liked the look in his eyes when he’d gotten his attention when they landed. Going back to the helicopter had been dangerous considering how the men outside had been acting and those things closing in on them. Thomas was breathing hard, unaware of Minho’s concern and his fist was clenched around something. Minho caught a glimpse of what it was and sighed in understanding. The small token from Chuck – trust Thomas to not leave that small piece of the kid behind.

They were ushered swiftly into a room without explanation, where a table was laden with food. Minho didn’t care where they were or what was happening – right then and there they were alive, safe and had a banquet to fill their bellies. It was only as his appetite began to sate that he stood back and realised, of the forty eight Gladers he’d lived with over the last three years – only seven of them were standing in that room. Minho looked down at the empty plate in front of him and over the remnants of their feast. It could have fed all the gladers easy, if they’d been careful, if they’d shared as they always had. He sat heavily on another table and grimaced, aware he was being watched. When he glanced up, he found Thomas sitting on a sack away from him, but his eyes boring into his. 

There was something different about Thomas now, had been ever since he’d stabbed himself with the griever needle. Things has escalated quickly when the Grievers had attacked and they’d escaped in the maze, they still hadn’t talked about what Thomas remembered. Minho wondered if he knew about before, about them and why they felt as they did for one another. He wanted to ask but he stayed quiet, hoping they would eventually be able to speak in private.

~

They were taken for tests to assess their health or so Jensen and the Doctors told them. They had no reason to doubt them or distrust them considering they had rescued them from the Maze and the WICKED facility attached to it. For some reason his Doctor seemed particularly interested in his physique and asked him to run on a treadmill while he monitored him. Minho didn’t question it, the food had given him energy and he was used to running for miles every day. He set himself a pace and settled into it; Thomas was sat across the way, having blood taken and Minho smiled at Thomas’s attitude when he asked his attendant if he’d gotten enough after taking yet another vial of blood. Thomas glanced over at him, then to Teresa a few beds down, before watching him again.

Minho smiled a little more; locking eyes with him. They hadn’t had any time with one another alone since the Glade, the day they’d went to explore the maze further and seek out answers. It had been days and days since they’d kissed or properly spoken. The way Thomas watched him gave him a thrum of energy and he was glad his heart was already racing because he was getting that strange feeling he’d been getting about Thomas ever since running out of the maze that day with Ben.

Ben.

Minho blinked, looking away from Thomas, concentrating instead on the monitors directly ahead of him where Jack was being assessed. Images of Ben bombarded his thoughts and he had to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other to save from slipping on the rotating path under him. Ben hadn’t been the first boy they’d sacrificed to the Grievers, to the maze, but he had been the last and Ben had been one of his closest friends. They’d ran the maze together for over a year. In the days since they’d banished him from the glade, Minho had had tortured dreams of Ben begging him not to put him in the maze. What kind of friend was he to have done what he’d done to him?

_“Minho, please, don’t let them do this.”_

_Minho couldn’t look him in the eye and turned him around roughly to bind his hands._

_“Please – we’re friends – you know me – I – I – he did this to us. Thomas. He did this.”_

_Minho grabbed his shirt and pushed him forward, out of the homestead where the heat of the day hit them with a cloying heaviness. It was a long way across the glade and Minho had to endure Ben’s begging every step of the way. It was all he could do not to abandon him there in the middle of the glade to go and vomit in the tall grass. He cut Ben free only when he knew there was no way he could escape his fate, but Minho couldn’t bring himself to force Ben into the maze as the others pushed him back with their long poles and menacing looks. He could only stand on the side lines and watch with slow, agonised breaths as Ben was forced back inch by inch and the walls began closing._

_That night he hadn’t slept and at first light, he’d packed his rucksack and ran alone into the Maze for the first time in a year. It hadn’t taken long to find Ben, or what was left of him. He’d vomited then before running, running until his lungs burned and his legs fell from under him. He’d lain where he’d fallen, a crumpled heap and he’d cried for his friend and about the world they lived in that made sacrificing him to the Grievers as something acceptable._

~

Minho had begun to get anxious when Thomas didn’t show up in the cafeteria, although they were still getting their heads around the idea that they hadn’t been in the only maze out there. The place was filled with kids of various ages, almost to capacity. Minho watched the door with one eye as he listened to conversations, fidgeting until Newt gave him a silent glare and put a hand on his knee to stop him nudging him every second.

“He’s okay,” Newt whispered under his breath. Minho gave a curt nod but when he saw Thomas at the entrance he jumped up so fast he knocked Newt’s shoulder hard.

“Ow,” Newt tutted at him. “That hurt you know?”

Minho ignored him and met Thomas, bringing him to the table, making room between himself and Newt. Thomas was still taking everything in and climbed in-between them to sit. Minho wondered if Thomas was even aware that he had settled his hand on Minho’s thigh and kept it there as they spoke to the boys from another maze. Minho settled his fingers over Thomas’s which twitched against his, interlinking almost with the gentlest of touches. It was a familiar feeling, one Minho had been having ever since meeting Thomas – Minho had known he was from ‘before’, whenever ‘before’ had been, he knew it as surely as he knew his own name and that was all he remembered of his former life.

Jensen had interrupted the noise of the place and read out names from a ledger, kids from around the room joining him. Thomas’s fingers tightened against his and Minho realised Thomas was feeling the same was he was right then and there – afraid that their group would be split up. It was with some relief that none of their names were read out. Thomas squeezed his hand with relief when Jensen finished and they looked at one another silently before Thomas looked around. Minho followed his line of sight – Teresa was walking past the window, followed by attendants. Not all of their group were together and he had a sinking feeling she was being taken like the others.

Minho watched as Thomas went to investigate. He knew there was a connection between Thomas and Teresa, though he didn’t understand what it was. He tried to convince himself he wasn’t jealous the way Thomas was always looking out for her but it was there, heavy in his gut, the want to push her away and the guilt of feeling like that in the first place. She was as bereft as the rest of them and she was part of their group, even if it had only been for a day or two.


	3. Chapter 3

Beds – actual beds, with mattresses, sheets and blankets. Minho scrambled up the ladders before Frypan had a chance to claim top bunk and he lay down with a sigh. A pillow – they’d fought over pillows when they were in the glade as there weren’t enough to go around, they’d shared blankets, slept in hammocks or on roll mats on the ground. He dozed as they others spoke about what had happened so far in the facility until eventually, one by one they fell silent. Minho listened as one person still moved about the room and smiled, rolling onto his side. He wasn’t sure why he’d known it would be Thomas but he was right. Thomas splashed water on his face before retreating to his bunk and lying down. Minho quietly swung himself off his bed and landed by Frypan’s sleeping form silently. He moved across to Thomas who was facing the wall and put a hand on his shoulder. Thomas smiled and rolled onto his other side, back pressed against the wall as Minho slipped onto the bed beside him.

They lay silently, knees touching, a hand on each-others waist and barely an inch between their faces.

“What did you see?” Minho asked him eventually.

“What?” Thomas asked him, tired and confused, trying to make sense of everything that was going on.

“Ever since you jabbed that Griever needle into yourself, you’ve acted weird. You saw stuff,” Minho reminded him. “What did you see?”

“As I said before,” Thomas said, sliding a foot against Mino’s shin. “Me and Teresa, we’re the reason you’re here. I can’t make sense of it, but it was us; we did this to everyone.”

“And then yourselves,” Minho reminded him. “But that isn’t all, is it? There’s something you’re not telling me. About us.”

“I told you…why would you think ...”

Minho sensed him becoming tense and nervous. Because he was right and he’d called him on it – Thomas had remembered more. Minho wondered what was so bad that had Thomas so scared to tell him.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Minho said gently, feeling Thomas shiver at the close proximity of their mouths. “I don’t remember anything from before the glade, maybe Minho isn’t my real name ...”

“It is,” Thomas said before falling silent as he continued.

“But ever since I got a look at you; the time we’ve spent together,” Minho sighed, pressing in closer, hand sliding around Thomas’ waist. “Nobody feels this way about a complete stranger. It feels normal, the most normal I’ve ever felt. How can I feel the way I do about someone I don’t know, unless I knew them from before?”

“What is it your saying Minho?” Thomas asked him, looking guilty and terrified but at the same time so hopeful.

“I’m saying I know you remember something about us before,” Minho said matter of factly. “I just don’t know why you’re keeping it secret.”

Thomas stared at him, swallowing down before looking away, tensing in his arms.

“I did this to us,” Thomas admitted quietly. “Don’t you get that? Three years in the glade Minho, don’t you understand? I didn’t stop them when they came for you. I remember more and more, and I can’t get that out of my head. They took you and I didn’t stop them, even though you begged me to help.”

“One boy against WICKED,” Minho said after a pause of silence. “What did you think you were going to do?”

“They needed me and Teresa, more than any of us,” Thomas said. “I could have stopped them, somehow; could have said I wouldn’t have helped.”

“We were just kids,” Minho reminded him again.

“We lost three years,” Thomas said sadly.

“But we still feel the way we feel,” Minho said quietly. “Guess that means something.”

“Means you need to shut up or get your own room,” Newt said loudly from his bunk opposite.

Thomas and Minho grinned at one another before glancing over to where Newt lay on his side, glaring at them sleepily.

“Seriously guys, shut up or get out,” Newt said before rolling over huffily and yanking the blankets over his head.

“Come on,” Minho grinned, rolling off the bed and tugging at Thomas.

“Uh, was kinda hoping to sleep,” Thomas laughed.

“Shut up,” Frypan groaned.

“Out, out,” Jack added earnestly.

“Get a room guys,” Newt said, voice heavy with sleep.

The other boys all piped up loudly, tired of their whispering. Minho tugged Thomas away, out of the bunk room and they crept hand in hand along the corridor to another door. Minho tried it, glanced inside before tugging Thomas in behind him. It was a sort of closet, full of shelves with boxes. He’d spied it when they’d been escorted to their bunk room.

“What now?” Thomas asked with a frown.

Minho turned to him, grinned and pushed him up against the door, hands framing his face as he kissed him hard on the mouth.

“Been wanting to do that again for days,” Minho smiled when they peeled apart.

Thomas rested his hands on Minho’s hips but looked at him sadly, “All this time we lost and what I did; letting them do this to us. Why would you still want to be with me?”

“Told you,” Minho reminded him. “I always felt like I was waiting for something, someone, in the glade. Maybe that’s why I became a runner? I knew it was important, and I guess maybe I thought I’d find what I was looking for in the maze. Had to wait a few years instead, but this feels right.”

Thomas had to smile, shaking his head at him, “Everything we’re going through right now and this is the conversation we’re having?”

“I’m sick of trying to figure out what is going on,” Minho sighed tiredly, resting his forehead against his. “For this moment, even if it isn’t very long, I just want to enjoy this – because who knows what is going to happen to us next?”

“I get the feeling it isn’t anything good,” Thomas said morbidly.

“Yeah,” Minho agreed softly. “Me too. Which only makes me want to enjoy this, being with you, for as long as I can.”

“I wouldn’t …” Thomas began before pausing and shuddering at memories that flashed in his mind. “I wouldn’t let them take you like last time.”

“I know,” Minho assured him. “You’ve made it pretty clear you’ve changed since that time, and even if I can’t remember who either of us were then, I know you mean it now.”

Thomas pulled him to him again, their mouths colliding. Minho edged closer, enjoying how their bodies pressed into one another’s, Thomas pinned between the wall and himself. Thomas moaned gently, hands moving all over his body as Minho tugged at his t-shirt enough to slide his palms underneath to touch his skin, hot and tense under his fingertips. Thomas’s hands framed his face, pulling him away and they breathed hot and heavy against each other.

“Wait,” Thomas breathed hard. “Just – gimme a minute -.”

“Should we go back?” Minho asked, knowing time wasn’t on their side and not knowing what would happen to them if they were discovered out of their room. Jensen seemed to run a fairly tight security operation.

“Shit no you stupid shank,” Thomas grinned with a small shake of his head. “It’s only – I know some things are coming back to me but – I honestly don’t know when the last time I did this with someone-.”

“What? Kissed?” Minho smiled. “In a cupboard?”

“No,” Thomas laughed under his breath. “Well, I mean yeah I guess but – not just that – you know -.”

Thomas was looking at him with a meaningful look in his eyes that made Minho laugh again, leaning in against him with a knowing looking.

“Well I’m not saying I – you know – slept around in the glade or anything but as I said before, you lived with the same guys all that time, people hook up,” Minho explained to him. “And if you remember there wasn’t much in the way of privacy there. Even if you didn’t do it often you quite a lot heard and sometimes saw what everyone else was up too.”

Thomas looked nervous again, tense and looking unsure as Minho leaned in for another kiss. Minho paused and looked him in the eye.

“Hey – this only making out thing is perfectly fine with me if that’s all you want to do,” Minho assured him.

“Actually I’m thinking why couldn’t we have found another empty bunk room,” Thomas smiled nervously. “I know I want to be with you, just wish it was in a better place.”

“We can go back, if you want,” Minho replied in understanding.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned these last few days, is that you don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” Thomas said, sliding his arms around his shoulders. “I’m tired of not knowing what is waiting for us. For the next few minutes, hour, whatever, let’s be in control of our lives.” 

“I can get on board with that idea,” Minho grinned, kissing him again. The kiss was soft and gentle, not as frantic, neither wanting to rush. Minho wanted to savour every moment because, like Thomas had said, they neither of them knew what was to come, only that for those few moments, in a tiny closet, it was the two of them and nothing else mattered.

Maybe it was the confined space or the fact they knew they needed to be quiet to save from being discovered. Or perhaps because they wanted to savor every new memory they were creating together – but rather than a frenzy of hormones and heightened awareness of one another, they explored slowly and sensually. Neither knew or cared if it took seconds or minutes, only that they were discovering one another in new light and satisfying a deep desire for the other that they had both felt when they’d lain eyes on one another that day in the glade. They spoke little but touched and caressed, teased and stroked, sharing breaths and seeking out comforting kisses; tasting, nipping, mouths exploring necks, hands exploring everywhere else. They mapped each other as thoroughly as the runners had painstakingly mapped the maze.

Minho fell first, their fingers entwined as Thomas drew him over the edge. He felt drunk and giddy like he used to feel after a mug full of Gally’s moonshine. It was all he could do to stay standing, legs like jelly, body pulsing, feeling Thomas’s chest rise and lower heavily against his own. As he caught his breath he rested his mouth against Thomas’s shoulder, stealing a lick of salty sweat and feeling Thomas shiver and moan at the caress.

Minho concentrated, turning his attention to Thomas, fingers blindly seeking his task as he pulled his head up and locked eyes with his lover. Thomas grunted, panting out a silent approval as Minho set a quick pace. Thomas let him do the work, sliding his hands to rest at the back of his neck and staring back at him, slack jawed and straining. It didn’t take long before Thomas yelled out, loud enough to be heard and Minho pressed in quickly, covering his mouth with his own before he could wake the whole facility. Thomas moaned and bucked against him and he didn’t withdraw his hand until the last pulse twitched from his body.

They stood entwined in one another’s arms until the cold air began making them shiver in their post coital bliss. Minho retrieved a clean rag from a shelf and they cleaned up as best they could. With trembling fingers they pulled their clothes back to their normal states, never too far from one another, casting knowing, easy glances every now and then until they stood apart, sated and happy.

“We should get back,” Thomas sighed eventually in dismay. “The others might begin to worry if we don’t return soon.”

“Yeah, Newt’s already a nervous wreck,” Minho agreed but he caught Thomas’s arm before he opened the door. “Thomas I – I won’t ever forget this you know? Whatever happens to us –“

Thomas smiled and shook off his hand only to take it in his own, “Me neither. Promise.”

They slipped out of the closet only to run into a guard on the way back to their room.

“What the hell – why aren’t you in your bunks?” The guard demanded, he was a young guy, not much older than themselves. Minho didn’t think he looked all that bright and squeezed Thomas’s hand to play along.

“We uh – well you know – we were looking for some privacy,” He answered. It wasn’t a lie so it wasn’t hard to convince the guard.

“Oh jesus,” The guard exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “Stupid kids could get yourselves into a lot of trouble if you get caught by the wrong person. Get back to your bunks, now!”

Thomas and Minho exchanged smiled and got on their way, the guard trailing them until they reached their room and stepped inside. The guard shook his head at them and muttered under his breath about ‘kids’ and ‘raging hormones’ before he closed the door. They heard the security system kicking in to lock them inside but didn’t think anything of it. He was probably taking precautions in case they decided to take another wander in the middle of the night.

“We should sleep, don’t know what tomorrow will bring,” Minho whispered, drawing close in the dim light and pressing a kiss to Thomas’s mouth. “Goodnight.”

“Don’t – don’t you want to sleep-,” Thomas whispered in reply, nodding invitingly to his bunk, before Minho smiled with a shake of his head. 

“Yeah – no, don’t think that would be a great idea,” Minho laughed under his breath. “May wake up to a compromising situation and we’ve got an audience now remember?”

Thomas grinned in agreement after a pause of thought and watched as Minho climbed up to his bunk. Minho lay down, watching as Thomas wandered to the back of the room towards the sinks. Turning away he faced the wall and closed his eyes, new memories haunting him now, better memories than he had had in a long long time. Within minutes he was asleep, dreaming of Thomas.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hours Later**

Thomas arrived back in the room seeming half crazed. Minho tried to calm him and make sense but he stepped back as Thomas and Newt began to argue. The kid, Aris, had followed Thomas back to their bunk room and stood on the sidelines, watching. He had the same terrified look in his eyes as Thomas.

“What was it?” Minho demanded from him. “What did you see?”

Aris seemed unable to answer, he appeared numb, his fear and terror striking him mute. Minho shook his arm and jumped in alarm as Thomas grabbed a sheet and began making a makeshift lock for the door. Newt, Frypan, Jack, Winston – they all surrounded him, demanding answers.

“It’s WICKED,” Thomas yelled loudly. A shocked silence descended. Minho wanted it to be some cruel joke Thomas was playing but looking at him he knew it was the truth. For a moment Minho wanted to be back in the Glade again, the only normal he knew – he wanted to run, run through the maze and lose himself in its familiar twists and turns, sure of his direction. In the maze, he’d always known how to get home – always known how long he had to get back to the safety of the glade before nightfall. Here, in this place, he knew nothing and fear without knowledge made you crazy.

That moment, only hours before, in the closet not far from where they were standing. Why couldn’t they have remained in there forever? Why couldn’t that have been their future, their end? Thomas stared at him and Minho knew in that moment that he was thinking the same thing.

“There isn’t time,” Thomas said quickly, pulling at them all. Minho felt Aris step away and turned to see him diving to the ground and under Thomas’s bunk, back into the vent. Thomas pushed him, then Frypan, Jack – “Go, go, go.”

They wormed through crawl spaces, escaped through corridors, WICKED close on their heels, taunting and chasing them. Chests burning, gasping for breath, they escaped the compound into the vast wasteland of the desert landscape. 

They had tasted freedom of the maze but they were all runners once more.

~ fin ~


End file.
